Can you believe it's been five years since Angry Birds first flew into our lives and stole countless hours of tablet time?

Although it seems like just yesterday, Angry Birds has in fact just celebrated its fifth birthday. The franchise's developer studio is therefore commemorating the occasion by releasing new levels and announcing some milestone statistics.

We actually found ourselves wondering what other moments have defined Angry Birds over the years, and so we decided to dig up a few tidbits. Just keep reading if you want to learn all about Angry Birds, including its highs and lows.

What is Angry Birds?

Finnish app developer Rovio Entertainment released the first Angry Birds game, which starred a bunch of wingless birds, on 10 December 2009 for iOS devices. Angry Birds has since spawned cross-platform sequels and become a franchise.

What does the Angry Birds franchise include?

Within the last five years, Rovio Entertainment has collaborated with other franchises and companies to create Angry Birds-inspired crossovers, merchandise, theme parks, a TV series, an upcoming animated film, and several games.

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How many Angry Birds games have been released?

Rovio Entertainment has released 12 titles under Angry Birds. Here's a list of those games:

  • Angry Birds (released on 10 December 2009)
  • Angry Birds Seasons (released on 21 October 2010)
  • Angry Birds Rio (released on 22 March 2011)
  • Angry Birds Space (released on 22 March 2012)
  • Bad Piggies (released on 27 September 2012)
  • Angry Birds Star Wars (released on 8 November 2012)
  • Angry Birds Friends (released on 2 May 2013)
  • Angry Birds Star Wars II (released on 19 September 2013)
  • Angry Birds Go! (released on 11 December 2013)
  • Angry Birds Epic (released on 12 June 2014)
  • Angry Birds Stella (released on 4 September 2014)
  • Angry Birds Transformers (released on 15 October 2014)

What are some Angry Birds stats?

To celebrate Angry Birds' fifth birthday, Rovio Entertainment has announced some interesting stats about the franchise. Angry Birds has been downloaded 2.5 billion times by 1.7 billion smartphone users from around the world, for instance.

But that's not all: mobile gamers have collectively flung over 600 billion birds to date and earned 150 billion stars across all the Angry Bird titles. For comparison, our galaxy - the Milky Way - only contains some 100 billion stars.

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When will the Angry Birds film premiere?

The Angry Birds film, which is expected to be a 3D computer-animated movie, has a set release date for 1 July 2016. It is being developed, produced, and financed by Rovio Entertainment as well as Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Sony Pictures Entertainment will also handle worldwide distribution. So far, Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly are attached to the project as directors, with Jon Vitti as the film's screenwriter and John Cohen and Catherine Winder as producers.

A long-list of stars will also voice different characters in the film. Some of the more notable stars include Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Kate McKinnon, and Tony Hale.

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Is everything all hunky-dory with Angry Birds?

No. Angry Birds has fallen in app store rankings and made drastic cuts to the company’s workforce. In early December, Rovio Entertainment announced it was once again letting go of employees. It then fired 110 staff members.

Rovio Entertainment also confirmed it will close its Tampere studio and consolidate its Finland operations in Espoo. Although at one time Rovio managers were hinting at an IPO, that vision now seems like a pipe dream.

Perhaps the cost and burden of a feature-length animated film was too much to handle? Or maybe Rovio was just a 12-hit wonder that over-milked the Angry Birds brand. It's hard to tell. But the company isn't in dire straits just yet.

Happy Birdday!

In honour of the first Angry Birds' fifth "birdday", Rovio has released Play the Next Level. It's a collection of 30 new levels created by Angry Birds fans. It's also the result of a social media competition hosted by Rovio and its partners.